LASA 2013 (May 29-June1 2013)

full name / name of organization:

Rosa E. Soto

contact email:

sotor@wpunj.edu

(Re)Writing Home: Trans- and Post- Nationalisms in U.S. Latino/a Literature

Roman de la Campa points out that Latino/as reside in type of “split state” that includes not only specific national histories and identifications, but also “the ontological plurality that comes from deriving an identity from more than one American imaginary.” In fact, Latino/as often contend with the incongruity of meanings implied by home and homeland, particularly in the process of identity construction and representation. Consequently, home is frequently represented as a geographic location, nation, imagined space, language, community, history and/or culture, among others. Additionally, home can function both to subvert and reinforce dominant narratives about nation and identity.

The increased scholarly interest in Latino/a trans- and post- nationalisms raises some important questions about the ways Latino/as imagine, remember and represent home as spaces of origin or belonging. Are these representations avenues for negotiating Americanity, imagined as U.S.-centered? Do the histories and cartographies of Washington Heights, Little Havana, Lima, and Guanajuato gesture beyond the hierarchies of power often implied in transnational and postnational labels? How do these representations challenge, affirm or create national, postnational, or transnational identities? For this panel, we seek papers that examine representations of home in Latino/a and Chicano/a cultural productions. Specifically, we are looking for essays that consider the ways in which cultural productions use images of home to negotiate, reconcile or deconstruct national identity.

cfp categories:

cultural_studies_and_historical_approaches

ethnicity_and_national_identity

international_conferences

By web submission at 08/13/2012 - 17:17

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